Interchangeable-character-locking device



March 4, 1930. M. J. HOGAN 1,748, 984

INTERCHANGEABLE CHARACTER LOCKING DEVICE Filed April 18, 1927 Patented Mar. 4, 1930 INTEROHABTGEABLE-GHABAGTER LOCKING DEVICE V imitation filed April 1s,

/ Y My invention relates to means for locking tightly againsteachiother aswell as'locked i Fig. 2. 's a sectionalview taken'on I Fis-" 'r I 'Fig. 3- is a 'perspective view of one ofthe I sign,characters;-fand i interchangeable sign characters in place upon a base and" has for its principal'object' the provision ofla device of this character wherein the characters may be readily in serte'd andfremoved independently of each other before being lockedinplace, Y

Another'object of my invention isto pro vide' a device of, this'character wherein the interchangeable characters be clamped ineposition. I r .7 I

My invention may be utilized in' various formslffO ne form'vvhich is easily constructed and hasproven'satisfactory is shown. in the drawings. Howeverlwish it tobedistinctly understo'o'dthatfl dono't intend to limit myself to the exactdetails shown and described but that I intend to avail myself of all such; modifications as fall withinthe scopeof the claims.

In'the drawings:

Fig.{1...is a plan mate mydstructure a desk or other suitable support utilized in the sign plate, adapted to rest upon, I

" of such size andso'locatedwith respect toithe ,slotthat it-extendfsdirectly along the upper I V edgeof the projection :17 on the characters in place in the slot'. By'so placing the rod'it will the in Figs. 4 and 5v are detailedviews'illustrating the structure ofthe end character plate. I; I Referring now in detail to the drawings,

. the numeral 10 represents asuitahle base with which my improved character; I mounting mea nsniay be used; -This'base clearly consists ofa plate-like member *Which may be of any suitable material such for'instance as bronze which is now used in the construction This base as clearly shown in ig. 2 is provided with a slot 11 extending longitudinally thereof and in theprefer'red form thisslot is closed on the back side. by means of the integral portion 121 The-slot 11 is so formed in connection with-the portion 12 as to pro 'vide a recess as at 13 into' which the hook-like portion 140i the sign character may project. In constructing these integral;characters l preferably. form them in the shape illustrated in- Fig. '3', that is, a rectangular plate 15 upon 1927. SerialNo. ismof which the raisedicharaicter'lfi is formed;

Upon theback ote the plate' I provide the I rearward projection :17, haying I a hook-like portion 14 thereon so that a recess is provided 1 along the rear face of the character plate which is adaptedto engage the loweredge of the slot 11. As illustrated 2, the. projection 17 is ot considerable lessthickness than the slotll so that the same maybe insertedat any point along said slot and-the portion 14 hooked overthe lower edge of. the.

' slot to temporarily: retain thecharacter in place. Thus it will beseenthat the ,charac-r ters until locked in place, may be moved and interchanged at will to obtainthe proper spacing along theslotand'by this structure it is not necessary henit is desired to change I one character to remc ve any of the others from the base. i

the rodl8 which extendsfrom one end ofthe To lockfthe charactersa'in placeT provide m base through an opening therein vtothe slot I.

and longitudinally along said slot to the. '1

other end thereof, theirodpreferably' being I be noted that-the characters. are securely is inserted, be removed. This provides a very simple and efficient locking means tor'finally' locking the characters in place after. they have been properly adjusted and spaced alongthe slot, I i

this character,.e.liowever', since I theyar made with ,a view toimitating as.

'near'as possible a'fs olid sign having integral I raised characters thereon, t' s necessary after the characters areall placed in position, to press them-tightly. together so as notjto leave any cracksjtherebetweem I accomplish this,

clam-pingby'a novel fmeans making use of the lockingrod in connection Wit-ha special endtpiece19 fitting intothe slotlat one end thereof. "This end-"piece ,as 'il lust-rated*:in f

Figs: 4and15 consists of a flateplate similarl to the characterjplates,' but which-'isprovided 7 with -the projection 20 oirbacktl ereof some.-. what larger than the p'rojectionl'l it being position. 7 V

2. A deviceof the character described com-;

made as large as is possible to insert in the slot 11 and is provided like the projection 17 with a hook-like portion 21. adapted to hook over and retain the end piece in position on one edge of the slot.

This projection 20 is provided with an opening 22 therethrough which is screw-threaded so as to engage'with the screw-threaded end 23 of the rod 18. The end piece 19 is also preferably constructed with a laterally eX- tending flange 23 extending beyond the projection 20 so that upon being drawn away from the end of the slot a short distance necessary to clamp the characters in place it will still cover the end of the slot. The rod 18 is provided with a head thereon as illustrated in Fig. 1 by which the same may be engaged with a screw driver or other suitable tool and turned so as to engage the screw threads in the opening 22 and draw the end plate 19 against the other sign characters and thereby eliminate any cracks or openings between adjacent characters.

From the above description it is thought that the construction and operation of my improved locking and clamping means will be clearly understood and the advantages thereof will be clearly apparent. This structure it will be noted leaves no unsightly projections from the base of the sign and furthermore accomplishes both the locking of the characters in place and the clamping action by means of which the openings between them are eliminated with a single-locking member and the special end character construction. By'the utilization of this locking means it is also possible to set up the desired characters to establish the proper legend on the sign and properly space them by the insertion or removal of the spacing plates before they are locked in place with a minimum amount of trouble in inserting or removing the charactersand then by the insertion of the single element, that is, the rod to permanently lock the character plates in the slots and clamp them together.. I

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is: 1. A device of the character described comprising a base having a slot therein, a char-.

acter plate having a projection on the backthereof of less Width than said slot whereby it may be readily inserted in said slot, said projection having a recess in one side thereof adapted to receive one edge of said slot and means adjustably mounted on said base for engaging the side of said projection opposite said recess-and locking the character plate in prising a base having a slot therein, a plureceive an edge of said slot, and securing means mounted at one end of said slot and engaging the end character plate at the opposite end of said slot said means being adjustable to, draw said character plates to-. gether. a

3. A device of th character described comprising a base having a slot therein, aplurality of character plates having projections on the back thereof insertable in said slot at any point along said slot, and a securing member engaging and locking said projections in said slot said member being adjustably mounted in said base and adapted to engage an end character plate and draw said plates together.

4. A device of the character described comprising a base having a slot therein, a plurality of character plates having projections on the back thereof adapted to be inserted in said slot, and a securing rod rotatably mounted in said base engaging saidprojections to lock them in said slot and-adjustably engaging the projection of an end plate to draw said plates together.

5. A device of the character described comprising a base having a slot therein, a plurality of character plates having projections on the back thereof adapted to be inserted in said slot, and a rod insertable from one end of said base locking said projections in i said sl-ot and screw-threadedly engaging a plate at the other end of said slot wherebyv said character plates may be drawn tightly together. 7 I

6. A device of the character described coni-- prising a base having an elongated slot there- 1 in, a plurality of character plates having pro- .MICHAEL v J. HOGAN. v

rality of character plates having projections on the back thereof adaptedto be inserted in said slot, said projections being recessed to V 

